Road Buddy Duffel 36

You can expect your TOM BIHN bag to give you years of hard service. Our bags are guaranteed to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for the life of the bag. That means if something goes wrong and it's our fault, we'll fix it at no charge.

Same with your Skookum Dog gear: it'll give you years of hard service and is guaranteed to be free of defects in materials or workmanship. If something goes wrong and it's our fault, we'll fix it at no charge. If your dog chews something up or otherwise damages it, we'll repair it for a reasonable fee if it is repairable.

Specs:

Total O-rings: 12 (4 in the main compartment, 2 in the inside-flap zippered mesh pocket, 1 in the left side compartment, 1 in the right side compartment, 2 in the left exterior pocket, 2 in the right side mesh exterior pocket)

Tried and proved true over 20 years (with a few updates along the way), the Road Buddy Duffel is our take on the go everywhere, go anywhere duffel bag: tough as nails, easy on the eyes, all with a good amount of built-in organization.

There’s two sizes of Road Buddy: 36 liters (Medium, basically, and that’s the page you’re on now) and 60 liters (Large — go here to see that size). Other than the difference in size, the two bags and their features are identical. Fully loaded, the 36 may squeak by as an airline carryon; unless very under-stuffed, the 60 likely will not.

Main Compartment

The main compartment has the u-shaped curved opening we favor for duffels. Unlike a straight zipper across the top, the u-shaped opening allows one to zip open the main compartment, pull back the flap, and have high visibility of the main compartment and unhindered access to your stuff. The underside of this main compartment flap has a zippered mesh pocket that can fit a paperback book, first aid kit, or toiletries bag and twoO-ringsso you can clip optionalKey Straps,Organizer Pouches, or similar for further organization.

On the interior end walls of the main compartment are four open-top organizational pockets (two on one end, two on the other) each with an O-ring directly above (that makes for four O-rings in the main compartment). These handy pockets can fit various small items: power supply, external hard drive, camera batteries, a pair of socks, snacks, etc. If your temperament or particular load don’t require these organizing pockets, no problem: unused, they disappear out of the way. Otherwise, the main compartment of the Road Buddy Duffel is wide, open, and ready for gym clothes, kids’ stuff, camp stove + cookware, or whatever else you need to carry.

End Compartments

The two end compartments easily stow shoes, a sweater or jacket, sleeping pad or other stuff. As you load these two end compartments they’ll act as bookends, providing the whole bag with structure for even easier packing. Each of the Road Buddyend compartments have one O-ring; snapped to one you’ll find the included8” Key Strap Snaphook/Snaphookin Black. In this compartment you’ll also find a bag of eightCord Zipper Pulls in Black (follow that link to the Cord Zipper Pulls page to see the other colors we have available).

Exterior Pockets

There are two exterior zippered pockets on the ends of the Road Buddy; one is solid fabric and the other mesh. Both pockets are there ready for you to stow any items to which you need quick access. The mesh pocket, in particular, is useful for shoes, gym clothes, swimwear, your dog’s tennis balls or frisbee, or anything else that’s better exposed to air and sunlight; the facing fabric (the panel which forms the divider between the pocket and end compartment) of the mesh pocket is pleated so that the pocket can expand into its end compartment, giving you the option of using more room to store damp or smelly gear. Each of the exterior organizational pockets has one O-ring just in case you want to add more organization. Both zippers are set on the diagonal, making it easier to wiggle in objects that might otherwise be a little too large to fit in the opening.

External Webbing and Lash Straps

And here’s where things get even more interesting. You’ll find eight webbing loops on the exterior of the RoadBuddy: two on the front side, four on the bottom of the bag and two on the back of the bag. Secured to the front loops and two of the bottom loops is a set of two included Road Buddy Lash Straps. Lash Straps are adjustable webbing and buckles that join forces to create a way for you to lash down and secure a jacket, hiking poles, ultralight folding chair, tripod, yoga mat, tent poles,Camp Mator other bedroll or blanket for your dog, or other items to the exterior of the RoadBuddy.

This is easier shown than said, so here’s a couple photos demonstrating how this works.

Lash Straps securing a tripod to the side of the RoadBuddy:

Lash Straps securing a jacket to the side of the RoadBuddy:

As we mentioned above, one set of two Lash Straps is included with the RoadBuddy because that's what we figure most folks will end up using. That said, it's possible to add two sets of Lash Straps to the Road Buddy. You can add a second set of Lash Straps to your Road Buddy using the drop-downs to the right or from the Road Buddy Lash Straps page.

Carry Methods: Handle or Shoulder Strap

The Road Buddy is intended to be carried in hand by its handle or via a shoulder strap.

When choosing to carry the Road Buddyvia a shoulder strap, you’ll find two different places to clip the strap: two snaphook attachment points on the top of the bag (on either side of the main compartment opening) or two snaphook attachment points on the back side of the duffel.

There’s a couple of good reasons for all of this built-in flexibility and choice:

Want to be able to access the main compartment or end compartments of the Road Buddy Duffel while you’re carrying it cross-body or over-the-shoulder? Clip the shoulder strap to the attachment points on the top of the bag.

Or would you rather be able to access the external side zipper pockets while carrying the RoadBuddy? In that use case, clip the shoulder strap to the attachment points on the back side of the bag. This is also the method that gives the duffel its most narrow profile as you carry it with a shoulder strap - a bit more civil when carrying it onto a crowded bus, train or plane.

Last but not least: some folks may choose to buy a second set of Road BuddyLash Straps to use in conjunction with the set that’s included, and therefore may find themselves with two items lashed to the outside of the duffel — one item lashed to the back side and one item lashed to the front. In this use case, one would find it most comfortable to clip the shoulder strap to the snaphook attachment points on the top of the RoadBuddy.

All external zippers on the Road Buddyare the renowned #10 YKK coil zippers. On the inside, you’ll find one #8 YKK coil zipper on the main compartment flap zipper.

Directly above where the end of any zipper terminates or begins (it’s a half full, half empty kind of thing) are webbing loops: grab the loop between your thumb and forefinger for some purchase on the bag while you zip its beefy zippers open or closed.

The History of the Design

The Road Buddy Duffelis a continuously evolving design. Back in the mid 1990’s, Tom designed his original Road Buddy. It was a quick hit in those, the Santa Cruz days — people used the Road Buddy as a gym bag, go-to-the-beach bag, and even as a travel bag. Indeed, requests for Tom to make an air-travel focused version of the Road Buddy were what inspired the design that eventually evolved to become theAeronaut 45— one of our most popular and enduring designs.

Back to the duffels: in 2012, when we launched ourSkookum Dog line of dog gear, Nik took the original Road Buddy duffel design and updated it with two new features: a zippered mesh pocket on the interior of the main compartment flap (like the Aeronaut) and webbing on the bottom and sides of the bag to which an included set of lash straps are affixed — handy for strapping a yoga mat, Camp Mat, tripod, rain shell or the like to the outside of the Duffel. It became the Skookum Dog Road Duffel.

Now, in 2018, we've kept the two clever features Nik added but it's once again a TOM BIHN duffel and once again a Road Buddy. Nearly 20 years later, Tom still uses one of the original Road Buddy duffels. We hope your Road Buddy will serve you well for as many years (or even more).

Build your own organization

your bag already has great built-in organization. that said, you may want to add these optional organizational accessories to further organize and protect what you carry.

Used for securing a Camp Mat or blanket to the Road Buddy.
Our Road Buddys have webbing loops on the bottom and side through which can loop our Lash Straps (set of 2). Use the Lash Straps to secure a rolled-up Camp Mat or blanket to the duffel.

The Standard Shoulder Strap has a .25" / 6 mm texturized rubber pad, making it a good choice for those looking for some comfort but not needing the over-the-top comfort of the Absolute Strap. The Absolute Shoulder Strap has a unique, patented, internal control-stretch system, making it the ideal shoulder strap for those who carry hefty loads or simply want the most comfortable strap available.

Lifetime Guarantee

You can expect your TOM BIHN bag to give you years of hard service. Our bags are guaranteed to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for the life of the bag. That means if something goes wrong and it's our fault, we'll fix it at no charge.

Defects in materials or workmanship are uncommon and are most often evident while your bag is still new. Keep in mind that daypacks and briefcases are often subject to serious wear in everyday use. We often see TOM BIHN bags that are still solid and in use after five, ten, fifteen, even twenty or twenty-five years, with minor repairs needed here or there. But remember: only true love lasts forever.